Podcast database Podchaser has launched a new tool which allows advertisers to identify which podcasts are most effective for direct response campaigns, its parent company Acast has announced.
The newly-launched Performance+ tool uses proprietary data modelling to recommend to advertisers which podcasts have the strongest results for performance marketing, based on the level of data available from dynamic ad insertion in podcasting. The tool will help advertisers strategically select which podcasts they want to work with for future campaigns based on their performance.
“Performance+ is a recommendation engine for direct response clients in podcast advertising,” said Podchaser CEO Bradley Davis. “In these kinds of campaigns, reach doesn’t necessarily equal conversions.”
“Performance+ leverages proprietary modelling to profile podcasts based on metrics like release schedules, streaming versus downloading activity, and back catalogue listening. This identifies shows optimised for reaching unique listeners, which we know is a core requirement for direct response clients.”
Performance marketing is a type of marketing strategy which focuses on driving specific and measurable outcomes, such as email newsletter signups, product sales or free trial registrations. This makes it particularly useful for direct-response campaigns which seek to prompt an immediate response from listeners, such as making a purchase using an offer code.
This is in contrast to brand marketing, which is more focused on raising awareness and improving sentiment around a brand. Acast CEO Ross Adams previously told PodPod that, while podcasts are a popular channel for direct-response marketing in the US, the UK advertising industry still largely uses podcasts for brand marketing purposes.
“If you look at the podcast market in the UK and Europe, the big chunk of the spend… comes through the major agency groups,” Adams said. “You look at the US and that's the exact opposite. Direct response advertisers are the ones that are running the show in the US.”
“The ability to buy audiences on scale has been a hindrance for those major [US] agencies. They represent huge brands who need huge scale and podcasting hasn't necessarily delivered that huge scale here in the US. You've got a population of 360 million-plus, yet podcasting maybe reaches over a hundred million uniques on a monthly basis. It’s still got a long way to go to be considered a mass media with high penetration, from a reach perspective.”
Podchaser’s Performance+ tool is part of the company’s Collections+ feature, an AI-powered solution which automatically collects podcasts into categorised content verticals that advertisers can use for targeted, audience-level advertising buys.
In September, Podchaser also launched a Predictive Demographics tool, which is an expansion of Collections+ that uses AI to predict the age and gender of listeners for enhanced podcast advertising. Performance+ is currently in its beta phase, being tested within Acast-brand podcast advertising campaigns which have reportedly already been seeing promising early returns.
Other new solutions available on Podchaser include Airchecks, a measurement tool for advertisers which identifies keywords and patterns within campaigns that are in-flight. The solution launched in October this year and is available as part of Podchaser’s Pro Tier subscription, which creators can request a demo of through the website.
As part of Acast’s growing podcast strategy, the company also recently signed a global partnership with Proximic, a subsidiary of long-established media analytics and data provider Comscore, to provide podcast advertisers with cookie-free solutions that can target audiences based on their consumer behaviours.
